Wagon steering-gear.



' P. Hl HENDRIGKSON. WAGON STEERING GEAR. APPL'IOATION Hmm Nov. e, 1913.

Patented Sept. 8, 1914.'

,lbyl l I 4 l p 'f At'tcrnenys ZZZZ /Za nutren srafrns PETER H. HENDRICKSON,

I or' Ioivn, WASHINGTON.

Watson STEERING-GEAR.

Application ined November s, 1913. semi no.v massa.

Y Specification of Letters Patent.

rateneee sept. s, 191.4.

To all whom 'it may concern.'

Be it known that I, PETER H. HENDRICK- soma-citizen ofthe United States,'residing at Ione, in the county of Pend Oreille and State of Vasliington, have invented a new and useful lagon Steering-Gear, of whichv the following is a specification.

This invention relates to .improvements in steering gears for vehicles.

An object 4of the present invention' is to provide a steering gear for vehicles which are drawn by draft animals wherein the turning of the wheels will be va function of the turning of thev vehicle tongue or shafts. A further object is to provide a Avehicle steering gear wherein the turning of the front wheels is directly proportional to the turning of the shaftor tongue andthe ratio therebetween maybe varied at will.

' A further object is to provide a vehicle to be used in connection with draft animals and 4and axle are the reach rods whichextend to provide the front axle with steering knuckles upon -which the front Wheels are mounted and Which are connected bylr'neansof armsor links to the tongue or shaft supporting member `so that the wheels will be turned with and by the turning of the tongue or shaft.

With the foregoing and `other objects in View which will appear-as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and varrangement .of parts and in the .details of construction hereinafter 'described and. claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed,` can be made Within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawings accompanying this speciication the preferable embodiment of my invention has been illustrated, wherein Figure llis -a top plan view of the front portion .of the runmng gear of a vehicle. Fig. 2 is a cross sectional View taken on the line %2 of Fig.v 1. Fig. -3 is a frag- .mental view in front lelevation, illustrating a longitudinal section taken along the line 3-30fFig-2. 5., Referring t`o thedrawings in which similar reference numerals indicate corresponding elements throughout the several views, 4 designatesthefront bolster-mounted beneath .which and` secured theretois theaxle 5. Aldlxtending rearwardly from the bolster to the rear bolster, not shown, and which is #ofthe usual or conventional type. The axle l 5 1s provided at its ends with the yok'es 7 which are adapted to support the steering :knuckles 8 -uponwhich are mounted the ve'- hicleJ wheels Rigidly secured to Ithe bolster f1 and axle ,5 are theV annular plates 10 which are held? a distance apart and which receive therein the stub shaft 11, extending from which` are the arms 12 and 13. The arm 12 isbi` Yfurcated at its front end so asto receivethe 4Wagon tongue therein. The rearwardly exeV tending arm 13 which acts as a lever is `.p.ro vided with a slot 15 therein and through which slot extends a bolt 16 whereby. a bearin member 17 is adjustably 'secured and he d to-the arm. The bearing member 17 is, as illustrated in Fig. 3, provided with a lower. compartment intovwhich extend the links '158 which latter are pivotally heid therein by the saidbolt 16.

'The links 18- `are provided intermedia-te"v their ends'W-ith thethreaded sleeve 19 Whereby the lengths of the links may be.shortenedor lengthened at will.A The links are pivotally secured at their outer extremities to the steering knuckles 8 which, as illustrated Fig. 1, are bell crank in shape. The tongue receiving portion of the arm 12 receives the tongue 2O therein and vwhich is pivotally secured therein by thehorizontally extending pivot 21. The tongue is thus' adapted to swingupwardly orV downwardly and is' limited in its pivotalmotion by the stops 22 which however do not interfere4 with the normal motion vimparted'to the tongue by' the movements ofthedraft animals.

3` In operation, sleeve 19 may be adjusted so l as to properly v osition the Wheels 9 and hold them in suc relation. 'The bearing'l' may be shifted longitudinally of the arm 13 so as to'varythe length ofthe lever arm thereof which will therefore vary the ratio between the turning 'of the tongue 20 and the corresponding 'movement' of the Wheels 9. .Thus it will. be apparentjthat the wagon can be adjusted to suit the actions` or char acteristics of the .d1-aft animals which are VVsecured to the vehicle. lThus itwill ne ap- 'parent that. if it is found that the draft .animal is slow in; turning, the lever arm may be lengthened so that the Wagon will turn quickly for small turnings of/the tongue 2G.-

If, however, on the contrary it is lfound thaty the draft animal has a tendency to turn to ree .too great an extent the lever arm of the bearing member 17 may be shortened by moving said bearing toward the stub shaft so that the ratio betheen the turning of the tongue and the Wheels will be correspondinglf lessened.

wing thus fully described my inven. tion, what claim is 4 l. .in an apparatus of the class described, thecombination of arvehicle axle, steering knuckles pvotally secured tothe outer. eX- tremities thereof and having Wheels thereon, and an arm pivotally secured to the ver hicle axle, a tongue connected to the said arm adapted to rotate the same, and means for transmitting motion from the said arm to the steering knuckles, the said means adjustable longitudinally of the arm to vary and adjust the lever arm thereof.

2. in an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a vehicle axle, steering knuckles and Wheels carried thereby, of a Wagon tongue carrying member pivotally supported by the said axle, al1-arm projecting therefrom, a member slidably secured to the said arm adapted to shift longitudinally thereot andineans for locking it in any desired position, and links pivotally secured to the said member and to the steering knuckles adapted to impart motion thereto at varying velocity ratios With respect to the movements of the'wagon tongue.

3. The combination with a vehicle axle, steering knuckles, and Wheels carried thereby, of an arm rotatably supported by the said vehicle axle, a tongue receiving member secured to the said arm and adapted to impart limited rotation thereto, said arm provided with a slot extending longitudinally thereof, a member slidably engaging the said arm, a bolt extending through the said bearing member` through the arm slot, and adapted to lock the bearing member at adjusted positions thereon, links pivotally .secured to the said bea-ring member bolt and to the steering knuckles adapted to impart motion thereto at varying velocity ratios taken with respect to movements of the arm to thereby vary the turning of the Wheels with corresponding turning of the Wagon tongue.

ln testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, have hereto ailixed my. signature in thepresence of tWo Witnesses. PETER H. HENDRCKSON. llitnesses:

Toner LEIDINGER, PAUL fs.. WEBB. 

